Saturday, June 18, 2005

Remembering the Queen of Jhansi.

Those of you who studied in the Hindi heartland of India know her through a poem, which is still taught somewhere in middle schools. Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi Fought against the British East India Company during the first war of Indian independence triggered by the Sepoy rebellion in 1857 AD at Meerut.

The ferocious battles that Rani fought bravly would never be known to current generation had Smt Subhadra Kumari Chauhan not written this brilliant poem. She not only wrote this poem but was not afraid to read out her poem in the public meetings, for which she was imprisoned. Now considering that all this happened in the latter part of Indian freedom struggle, during which British were very intolerant towards such literary works, she is seen as a lady equivalent to Rani in her determination to live in the free India.

Although both lived in periods separated by a century yet Subhadra Kumari Chauhan embodied the character of queen replacing sword with pen.

On this day of 18 June in the year 1858 AD the 22 year-old Rani gave her life for his motherland. British commander Sir Hurose said “The best warrior who died from the enemy side was a female”.